Chennai, India – 8th July, 2025: School of Design Thinking (SoDT), a pioneering institution committed to fostering Design Thinking as a mindset and culture, signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with a curated set of forward-looking academic institutions under its flagship Academia NxT™ – 3-Year Privileged Partner Program. The MoU signing was hosted on the occasion of ICT Academy’s BRIDGE 2025 – Chennai edition, in the presence of senior academic leaders and innovation champions.
This 3-Year partner model is a comprehensive institutional engagement framework designed to:
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Embed Design Thinking as a campus-wide innovation mindset
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Empower faculty, students and leadership to co-create value
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Align with national imperatives like NEP 2020, NAAC, NBA and NIRF and Global standards
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr. Anbu Rathinavel, Co-Founder & Head of School of Design Thinking, remarked, “With Academia NxT™ Privileged Partner Program, we are not offering a mere program; we are co-creating an innovation ecosystem within campuses. This partnership is designed to enable institutions to think beyond compliance and infrastructure and move towards design-led education. We are delighted to onboard these institutions as anchor partners in our national movement to transform the convergence of Design, Innovation and Learning.”
The model features a curated portfolio of 15 progressive programs across four transformation lenses, Experiences, Learning, Strategy and Sustainability, each tailored to catalyse Faculty excellence, Student innovation, Leadership design capability, and campus-wide impact.
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Activate the Experience: Active participation and application of Design Thinking in real-world contexts
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Build the Mindset: Hands-on learning and mindset shift through immersive faculty and student development
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Strategise with Design: Transforming institutional structures and vision through Design Thinking
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Sustain the Journey: Keeping the access alive through recognition and knowledge resources
Representatives from the KSR College of Engineering and K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode, expressed their alignment with SoDT’s vision of building capability through contextually relevant, experience-driven programs rooted in the proprietary Design the Thinking® framework. The initiative also signals a strategic alignment with India’s National Education Policy (NEP) and resonates with global benchmarks of embedding innovation as a core institutional function.
With this milestone, SoDT reiterates its commitment to enabling Colleges and Universities to become Centres of Innovation literacy, equipping them with the tools, language, and culture to navigate the complex future of learning and work.